Labyrinth
by Callophilia
Summary: Sookie has thirteen hours to reach the castle beyond Vampire City, but what will she find within its walls? E/S - On HIATUS until I can finish it but I can't see that happening for a while since I've kind of lost my drive for this.
1. Forgotten Deal

I woke up feeling hazy, there was dry mud and crisp, dead grass under my finger anils. I opened my eyes a little, grateful for the black sky and the small amount of light the moon gave out. I felt like I had a hangover with no memory of how I had come to be here or why. I stood up and looked over the horizon.

In front of me spanned a huge labyrinth with decaying brick walls. There were blue lights dotted all around the walls and a tall foreboding castle at the very centre. Where was I?

I stood up and turned around, ready to assess the situation, except there was a tall man standing behind me. He was breathtakingly handsome with pale skin and blonde hair that was slicked back. He wore nothing but black; black pants, black shoes and a black shirt with a few buttons undone to reveal a smooth hard chest. The contrast made him glow and he looked like a god, a sex god.

"You're him aren't you?" The words were out of my mouth before I even realised. "You're the Vampire King." He smirked at my words enjoying the fear and reverence in them. "I want to go home."

"We have a deal Sookie, what's said is said."

"I don't know what deal we made." He completely ignored this and walked close to me.

"You have thirteen hours to reach my castle beyond the Vampire City." he whispered in my ear; his breath cold on my cheek sent shivers down my spine and warmth sparked in my stomach.

I looked over the expanse of walls that stretched into the distance. "I can't, don't you understand that I can't?" _What had I done to end up in this situation?_

"Time is short Sookie." He stepped back and faded into the darkness behind him, I could tell he was completely gone.

Looking down at myself I thanked my lucky stars I was wearing my Merlotte's uniform; a white t-shirt with the bar logo, green shorts and white sneakers. I put my hands into my apron pocket and found my notepad with a pen. It was simple and all I had, so it would have to do.

"Come on feet." With that I left the small hill, with its long dead trees, and walked down to the outlining wall of the labyrinth. I walked in the light of the moon and the stars; the sky above me was clear and the night was warm and still.

After a short time I came across another figure; his back was facing me and he stood before a still pond, watching whatever creatures swam about or thinking to himself.

From what I could see, he had dark brown hair and wore a simple grey shirt with black pants. It appeared the dress code for the labyrinth was smart casual; I gave myself a once over and felt inadequately dressed.

"Excuse me?" I must have caught him off guard, not easy thing to do to a vampire. He stiffened and turned.

"I do apologise. I-" His pleasant attitude faded as he caught sight of me.

"Oh. It's you." His southern drawl had turned sour and he began to walk away, wanting nothing to do with me.

I frowned at the rude welcome and my voice took on a sour tone to match his. "Excuse me, but do I know you?"

"No you do not. But I know you Sookie Stackhouse, the telepathic barmaid." He had stopped walking away and turned to face me. He seemed to resent me and spoke with a slightly mocking tone. "I have been following you for the past few months, observing you."

"What? Why?" I could remember who I was, what I did, and what I could do but how I got here eluded me. I had never seen this man before and the thought of being followed scared me.

"It seems King Northman would like a telepath in his service. I was to make sure you were the real deal and bring you back here, but it looks like Eric has made that move before me." In an instant, he was before me, holding my arms and looking me fiercely in the eyes. "How did you get here Sookie? You shouldn't be here, it's too dangerous."

"I don't know how I got here but the Vampire King says I have to make it to his castle in thirteen hours. He says we have a deal." I felt his hands tighten before he let go and walked away from me. When he turned I could see the anger in his eyes as he started shouting at me.

"How could you make a deal with him Sookie, he's dangerous. What could he possibly offer you that would make you want to bargain with him? You stupid girl, he doesn't play fair!"

"I don't know what happened, I just woke up here. Now I have thirteen hours to get to that castle." I pointed to the spire in the far distance. "Now you can either shut up and help me or shut up and get out of my way because it seems I don't have a choice in the matter. I have to solve the labyrinth."

He stopped and thought for a moment before walking to a crank that was connected to stone cogs. He began to turn it with ease and a heavy looking stone slab was dragged to the side revealing the entrance to the labyrinth.

"Thank you." I felt bad for shouting at him now, so I smiled. He looked grim, but gave me a weak smile in return.

"You're really going in there aren't you?" He stood next to me looking through the entryway.

"Yes. I'm afraid I have to." I started walking in but he caught my wrist.

"Sookie, don't take anything for granted in there and don't trust Eric."

"Oh believe me. I won't."

"I'm Bill Compton... by the way." He smiled at me in a sad manner.

"Well thanks for everything Bill." I walked in and before I could turn to say goodbye, the stone slab had slammed back into place, making me jump.

I looked around and saw no turns, just a straight never ending path lit by torches with blue flames mounted in brackets on the stone walls.

Left or right? Right or left?

I started walking to the right. No turns. Nothing coming up ahead from what I could see. How much time did I have left? I started to jog and then broke out into a run; by the time I stopped for breath, I had still seen no sign of any turns.

"This isn't a labyrinth. There are no turns, or corners, or anything! It just goes on and on!" I shouted this up to the sky cursing the Vampire King and his stupid 'labyrinth'.

"Hello."

I screamed and spun around. An ethereally beautiful woman stood there, but she wasn't a vampire; her skin didn't glow and she wasn't pale like they were. She laughed; it was a sweet light one that made me smile brightly at her.

"Finished screaming at the sky Sookie?"

"Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea! You scared the living daylight out of me!" My hand was on my heart and I could feel it still beating pretty fast.

"Sorry about that. I'm Claudine." She smiled that brilliant smile at me and I couldn't help but forgive her instantly.

"Do you know the way through this labyrinth?"

"Sort of, but I can't help you Sookie."

I didn't know how to take this, disappointed seemed like the right way to go. "Oh... right."

"Oh Sookie, don't be disheartened! I would if I could, but if I get too close to the vampires in there I will die." She knew my question before I even asked it. "I'm a fairy. Vampires love fairy blood, and are on it like bee's on honey. I'd be drained on sight if they can't restrain themselves right. I can show you an opening, but then you're on your own from there. But be careful Sookie, there are a lot of dangerous vampires in there that will bleed you dry faster than you can think." She pulled something out of what seemed like nowhere, grabbed my hand and wrapped my fingers around it. "Keep this safe Sookie, it's silver. Vampires don't like silver, so if one gets too close you just put that on him and run." I looked in my hand to see a silver necklace with a Celtic intricate knot

design.

"Thank you." I placed the necklace over my head and tucked it under my t-shirt so it couldn't be seen.

"Oh don't thank me Sookie. You just owe me your first born." Her face was serious but then she burst out laughing. "Oh the look on your face! I'm sorry I couldn't help it." She took a deep breath and wiped a tear from her eye. "Well let's get you moving." She gestured to the wall behind us.

"It's a wall..."

"Try walking through it." She said this like a patient mother pointing out the obvious to her child.

I tentatively put my hand out, expecting to meet cold wall put instead it was like the wall had never been there and I could finally see the next path I could take.

"Don't take anything for granted Sookie." I turned to ask which way I should go when I found that Claudine had disappeared.

I shrugged and continued on, taking the right path, which was hopefully not the wrong one.

"In twelve hours and seventeen minutes, she will be mine."

_A/N: Thanks s meadows for being an amazing beta. I don't own the Labyrinth or SVM. The link to the necklace is in my profile. Celtic designs are too crazy to describe._


	2. A little bit of trickery

I had been walking for too long; my feet were sore and I was feeling tired already. I was pleased with the progress I had made, the castle had got considerably closer and I hadn't come across anything nasty in the walls of the labyrinth. Claudine had made it sound like the place was practically seething with the supernatural.

I thought too soon. A low growl built up behind me and then was joined by other growls. I turned around slowly; my spine had gone stiff with fear. A small pack of abnormally large wolves faced me, four to be exact. I started to back away, but then more growls started up behind me and I realised they were boxing me in. There was a path going left and I made a vault for it before the wolves had completely blocked me off. I surprised them by running towards them, but they saw me as no threat until I kicked one wolf in the face and ran down path.

I ran and ran, not daring to look back or check if I was running further away from the castle. Nothing I had offered Eric as a forfeit could be worse than being torn to shreds by a pack of angry wolves... I hoped. The further I ran, the more the area around me changed; I vaulted over fallen tree branches and ran into overgrown vines but I could still hear the pounding of paws behind me.

I rounded a corner and found myself facing two doors. I had to choose one; turning back would mean facing the wolves. I chose the door on the right; hauling it open, rushing in and slamming the door shut behind me. I was in pitch black and couldn't see a thing in front of me, but I could smell rotten meat and earth. I couldn't regret my decision because instantly there was a bang on the door and the wolves were scratching against it fiercely making it shake. I started to walk slowly backwards ready to run but hoping the wolves would leave after a while.

A fierce roar sounded, like nothing I had ever heard, and the wolves stopped scratching against the door. I could hear a lot of scuffling and growling then a sickening yelp accompanied by a snap. I stepped back again fearing the newest creature in the fight more than the whole pack of wolves.

I fell back into the ground with my last step and it took my breath away when I was suddenly halted mid fall. What felt like hands were roaming all over my body, gripping my legs and arms while groping other places.

I didn't notice the blue flame moving higher up until it had arrived in front of my face and I was sickened to see that the wall of this hole was made up entirely of decayed greying hands.

"Get off of me!" the hands instantly let go of me and I began to fall again, I couldn't help but scream. I was grabbed again, the blue light had followed me down so I could still see around me, I was unsure if I should be grateful or not. There was a squelching noise and a partially decayed, severed head was brought out of the mass of skin. The head opened its eyes and rolled them about until they were both, more or less, focused on me.

"Do you still want us to let go?" Its jaw cracked as it moved and the voice sounded weak and raspy.

"No! Please. Just don't touch me like that."

A hand ran over my breast and another head popped out in front of me. "You mean like this?" This one had half of its scalp missing with empty eye sockets.

"Yes I mean like that." Dead bodies or not, I was getting impatient. The hand receded back into the wall'.

The first head glared at the other head as it turned and sank away. When it had disappeared the first head turned back to me. "You must excuse some of us; we have been down here so long that manners are forgotten. I was Cail."

"What are you?" I tried my best to hide my disgust.

"I was once a human slave to the vampires; I was drained in a brutal fashion so many years ago and thrown into this mass grave." His voice crackled until it broke and he could speak no more. The head turned and disappeared as another head was pushed forward; this one had one giant claw mark stretching from the top of her scalp to her chin with a gaping black hole where her nose should have been.

"We are the victims of the labyrinth, not just vampires. But our stories are not to be told to the living, you must try and escape. Solve the labyrinth."

More heads had appeared along the tunnel, every one of them looking down or up at me. "We will lower you down as far as we can, but the lower down you go, the less responsive the corpses are."

"And you will most likely drop a few feet, we apologise for any broken bones."

Before I could say another thing I was being lowered down at a high speed, the number of heads watching dwindled and the further down I went, the faster I went. The number of hands that grabbed me dwindled as I fell until only single, skeletal hand reached out for me. It held weakly for a moment until my weight dislodged it from the shoulder bone that moored it to the well of corpses and I began free falling.

I didn't have too far to fall until I hit the dusty surface in, what felt like, a larger area. I was just glad my feet were on the ground and my personal space wasn't being invaded by the dead.

I heard movement in the darkness and scrambled to my feet.

"Who's there?"

"Me." Bill's deep voice was accompanied by the striking of a match and he lit a torch on the wall; it burst to life quicker than I expected.

Looking around the space I guessed I was in some sort of cave, obviously one underground. I didn't dare think how far under the ground I really was. There were chains hanging from the ceiling, and in one corner there was a skeleton still shackled up. The image tipped the line between humorously cliché and terrifying; causing me to worry about my mental state.

"You are in an Oubliette. Sookie."

I shrugged, the word said nothing to me. "What's that? Another word for dungeon?"

"It's a place where you put people to forget about them." He sniffed the air and his head snapped down towards my leg. "Sookie, you're bleeding." He was in front of me in an instant with his fangs out. "May I? My saliva will close the wound." I wasn't sure how but I realised I knew that already.

He was quickly down on one knee, his tongue licked from the end of the blood trail to the cut; it had bled quite a lot and I asked Bill why he hadn't noticed it before.

"My sense of smell is much stronger than a humans." _Lick._ "The scent of the dead is quite overwhelming." He pulled back after a moment and any sign that I had ever had been cut was gone.

"Why are they still up there Bill? How long have they been dead?" I whispered in fear that they would hear me, I didn't want to speak ill of the undead.

"They are thousands of years old Sookie. When vampires were more primitive they disposed of the dead outside of the labyrinth in a mass grave. Over time the labyrinth has grew over the dead and they have become a sort of foundation. It would be impossible to get rid of them now." He spared a glance up through the hole in the ceiling. "As for why they are still aware and moving, well I assume some spirits have grown stronger by consuming weaker spirits, thus keeping them attached to their bodies, and able to manipulate them."

"So they're stuck here forever? What a horrible afterlife!"

"They will eventually disappear. We do not dispose of the dead here any more so, eventually, they

will weaken and fade away."

I said a silent prayer for the souls above me as a sad thought crossed my mind; they had all moved as high up as they could to escape.

"I will take you as far as I can into the labyrinth Sookie, but I am under the rule of Eric; I shouldn't be helping you at all. I care for you Sookie, and I don't want him to have you under his thumb." He caressed my cheek and I didn't know how to respond but Bill was quick to start moving. He walked to one of the cave walls.

"There is another passage behind this wall, but you need to stay close to me. The cave might collapse." I thought of the mass of bodies above us and moved close to Bill. I didn't want to be a trapped soul and have to make the choice of eat or be eaten. He put one arm around me as pulled back his other. He punched the wall of the cave, and as it crumbled away revealed a wooden frame that acted as an archway and also prevented a cave in. With the ease that it crumbled away from Bill's blow, I suspected that it wasn't even real rock, just something that looked like it.

When I raised an eyebrow at Bill I'm sure he would have blushed if he could. "I didn't realise this exit would be supported. I was sure-."

"Thank you Bill."

We walked for some time through man made stone passages that twisted and turned until we finally came out into another passage where we could go left or right.

"What have we here?" His voice sent shivers down my spine for more than one reason. Eric was standing behind us in the darkness, and as he moved out into the light of one of the torches he completely ignored me.

Bill bowed at the waist slightly, "Your Majesty. What a nice surprise." The last part had a blatant edge of sarcasm.

"Bill, could it be you're helping this human?"

"In what sense?"

"In the sense of leading her to my castle." Both vampires remained calm though I could see Bill's knuckles had turned white as his fists clenched. Eric just looked slightly annoyed but more amused than anything.

Bill bowed his head defeated. "I was taking her back to the beginning."

"What!" I screeched loudly and I could hear my voice echo down the tunnel. Once again I was ignored.

"A little... trickery. But actually-"

"Is that blood on your lips?" Eric sounded commanding and angry. Bill tentatively licked his lips and quickly looked away from the Vampire King.

"Sookie had cut herself falling into the Oubliette, I cleaned and closed the wound." It was like watching a documentary on the discovery channel; the Alpha Male dominating a lower pack member as Eric stood tall with his head held high while Bill was submissive and small.

"If I thought for one second you were betraying me I would be forced to suspend you head first into the lake of silver."

Bill sucked in a sharp breath and, though I didn't believe it was possible, became whiter than he already was.

Eric let that little nugget of information sink in for a moment before turning on me. He placed one hand on the wall behind me and leaned in, our faces were only inches apart.

"And you, Sookie. How are you enjoying my labyrinth?" His voice rumbled in a low husky way that reminded me of nothing but sex.

"It's a piece of cake." My own voice betrayed my fear, but I continued to meet his gaze.

"Really?" He leaned in closer. "How about upping the stakes?"

"Eric, she meant nothing by-"

"Silence. The labyrinth is a piece of cake Sookie?" He stepped back into the darkness he came from "Let's see how you handle this slice." A rumbling sound came from the direction he had come from and the light from the torches gleamed against the silver contraption coming towards us at a high speed.

Before I could react Bill had me in his arms running away from the blades that spun like the blades on the blender.

"What is that?"

"The Cleaner." With my arms around Bill's neck I could see the machine was spattered with dried

blood, I expected it made quite a mess instead as opposed to cleaning.

We had reached the end of the tunnel, thick silver bars blocked our exit and the cleaner was approaching rapidly. Bill turned to the cracked wall next to us and began punching it over and over again. The cleaner was only a few feet away when the wall finally gave way. As Bill pulled me in I felt the cleaner pass by me, only a hairs breadth away, before I was flung to the floor

"I would appreciate it if you did not provoke Eric. We may find ourselves in the lake of silver next time." Bill was on the floor next to me sitting up slowly but when he met my gaze he came to a dead stop.

"What?"

"You were taking me back to the beginning Bill Compton." I stood up dusting the pieces of stone from my clothes. "I can't trust you."

"I was not. I just told him that I was." He walked over to a ladder that was attached to the wall. "To throw him off the scent." He gestured for me to start climbing, I didn't move.

"How can I believe anything you say?"

He sighed and spoke in a clipped tone. "Let me put it this way Sookie. What choice do you have?"

I walked past him with my head held high and began climbing the, seemingly, never ending ladder. "You have to understand my position. Eric is King of all Vampires. He is thousands of years old; I am only two hundred years old. I cannot openly deceive him, and to do so would be asking for a dip in the Lake of Silver or worse."

We climbed the rest of the way in silence and soon we were stepping out of a large urn into an open space. I noted with glee that the castle was closer than the last time I had looked and the fresh air lifted my spirits.

"Well there's the castle, which way should we go?"

"You should go the other way, Dorothy. Cause that sure ain't the wizard's house."


	3. The Wise and The Tortured

I turned at the sound of the new voice and found a toned, dark skinned man. He was leaning on a strange stone decoration; an old man sitting on a large chair wearing a strange hat that looked like a chicken.

"Well if it ain't Vampire Bill." The man turned his kohl layered eyes to me. "Dorothy, that's one of the witches monkeys you're walking the road with." Bill growled at him, but didn't attack.

"That's right, you stay the fuck away from me!" He lifted a couple of chunky silver necklaces that I didn't notice before. "They don't call me Lafayette 'the Wise Man' for nothing."

I took a quick moment to look him over; he was wearing jeans and a white vest with silver on his ears, arms and around his neck; simple but effective, I guess.

"I take it you bargained with that sexy, blonde, homicidal maniac of a King." He kept his distance from both me and Bill; lurking near an exit from the large square area we were in. "You want to get to the castle to seal the deal? I'm telling you this now: Even if you reach the centre, you'll never get out again."

I realised my mental shields were strong; I couldn't hear Lafayette's mind at all. Maybe the magic in the Labyrinth enhanced it or maybe I was just getting better. Letting down my shields I was flooded with a barrage of images; Lafayette in his small house being offered something he couldn't refuse, Lafayette running the labyrinth, the Vampire King collecting Lafayette after his thirteen hours. There were terrible things in his mind after that; dark twisted things that scared me more than the thought of being torn to shreds by wolves.

"Well how did you get out Lafayette?" He looked shocked for a split second then gave me a sly smile.

"So you're not just a pretty face and a nice pair huh? Yea I got out, I made sure I had the smarts to keep out too. But the Labyrinth is more than just a challenge, it's a dungeon; I still haven't found the way out of this hell hole. No one has."

I saw, in his mind, a handful of humans, all broken in different ways. There was a small camp somewhere close by, made of humans who were once slaves to the Vampires. I don't know how Lafayette managed it, but he had got them all out of the castle. That, in their minds, had earned him the informal title of chief.

He was thinking about a way to get me away from Bill, to safety, but couldn't think of a way to get me to the camp without it being found. I smiled and shook my head.

"Thanks Lafayette but I'm going to try to get to the castle."

He looked me up and down. "You're different, I'll give you that. I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into." He started walking backward, keeping an eye on Bill "Good luck getting home Dorothy." and with that he left.

Bill sucked in a breath and he coughed when I looked at him. "He reeks terribly of garlic. I would like to know how he got his hands on..." Bill face turned blank, his eyes vacantly staring forward and then he suddenly snapped out of it. "I am being summoned Sookie, I must leave you now."

He left, running quickly towards the castle, leaving me alone again.

I looked around, trying to decide which path to take when the decision was made for me. Roars of pain echoed through the labyrinth corridors followed by rumbling snarls and my path was chosen. If I was a smart person I would be able to take the path going away from the noise but instead I found myself stalking towards the source of the sounds.

I slowly peek around the last corner and stifle a gasp at the sight before me.

The tiger was beautiful; though its bright fur was stained with dark blood that dripped onto the floor it hung above. The silver chain that was wound tightly around its legs kept it in place as the lone vampire moved around him with a knife in hand.

"Quinn, Quinn, Quinn. You dumb little _pussy _cat." He sliced the tiger once more and threw the blade to the ground. He replaced it with a multi tipped whip. "King Northman isn't happy with you. You threw those fights hoping to retire and he knows it." He swung the whip around his head to gain momentum before letting it connect to the tigers hide. The roar that came forth caused my ears to ring slightly and my body to shake.

"If you continue to lose... well we'll just assume you are too old for this malarkey and let you retire." The whip whistled loudly through the air again. "I'll put you down like an old race horse."

The tiger had stopped roaring and gave a deep sad moan; the noise tugged at my heart and pulled me into action. Unclasping the necklace I ran at the vampire as soon as his back was towards me and threw the silver chain around his neck.

I don't know what I expected to happen when I got the chain around his neck; but I'm glad my imagination didn't reach far enough to find the reality.

Within a second the chain wrapped its self securely around the vampires neck like a snake and began to tighten. A vile smell hit the air as his flesh burned away where the silver touched him and, in horror, I realised it was slowly going into his skin. It burned and sizzled away his flesh, slowly decapitating his head. I looked away as a snap echoed through the labyrinth and the vampires head rolled away from his fallen body.

The tiger eyed me as I walked towards him; all the while a low growl rumbling in its chest.

"Now, stop that." The growling stopped. "That's no way to treat someone who's helping you."

The tiger huffed out a breath through its nose. I couldn't help but smile as I interpreted this as indifference. "Don't you want me to help you down?" His tail swept towards my face and tickled my nose as it went by.

I set about untangling his legs from the silver bindings. "You seem like such a nice beast." The last bit of silver unwound against his weight as I said "Well I certainly hope you are what you seem to be."

Of course, those words died in my throat when, not a tiger, but a man fell to the labyrinth floor. A naked man at that.

As the man pulled himself from the ground, my eyes roamed his body. He was toned to perfection; muscles flexed all over his body as he moved. The deep wounds were what caught my attention; fresh, deep lacerations that blood slowly trickled from and bruises. There were so many scars, all in different shapes and sizes. While I took every part of him in with my gaze he began to get dressed.

"Are you all right?" He turned as he finished buttoning up his dark purple shirt.

"I'll be fine, I heal fast."

We stood for a moment in silence as we both got lost in our thoughts.

"I know I should say thank you for the help... but you have undoubtedly caused me more trouble." He glanced towards the slowly decaying body of the vampire. "Thank you for your help. My name is John Quinn, but you can call me Quinn" He gave me a bright smile.

"I'm Sookie. Do you know the way to the castle at the centre of the Labyrinth?"

"I'm afraid I don't, not from here... But if I were to come along with you, I might be able to help you get there safely."

He turned around and stripped off again, I noticed the wounds on his back were starting to scab up already. As the last piece of clothing to come off fell to the floor the air around Quinn rippled, making the atmosphere seem strange and raw. I couldn't help but wonder if this was how magic felt.

I knew I was witnessing magic; if a man turning into a tiger wasn't magic then I didn't know what was.

The tiger turned to me, looking nothing short of magnificent. He strolled up to me, his huge paws padding heavily onto the stones, the retracted claws reminding me that he wasn't some overgrown house cat. One swipe and he could take my face off.

I resisted the urge to stroke his fur and instead glanced around once more.

"I wonder if anyone knows how to get through the labyrinth."

Quinn walked leading the way with his nose close to the ground sniffing as we went. I was unsure how good a tigers sense of smell was, but I guessed it was a whole let better than mine.

He turned a corner I hadn't noticed was there and led us to a set of doors.

The doors had stone knockers in the centre of them, one male and the other female; each had a sour look about them, as if they were chewing lemons or smelling something foul.

"Well, which should we choose out of these two ugly characters?"

"It's very rude to stare!"

"Oh!" The female door knocker I was looking at was now glaring wholeheartedly at me. "I'm sorry, I was just wondering which door to choose." A series of muffled noises drew my attention to the male knocker, the ring in his mouth making it hard for him to speak properly.

The female knocker spoke loudly in a reprimanding tone "Don't talk with your mouth full Andy!"

I looked down at Quinn and even though he was a tiger I could see clearly on his face that this wasn't something he was used to seeing. Stepping forward I pulled the ring from the male knocker, who I assumed was called Andy.

He opened and closed his mouth multiple times causing his jaw to crack loudly as he moaned in pleasure.

"Ah! Oh! It is so good to get that thing out."

I leaned down to is level "What were you saying?"

"It's no good talking to Portia, she's as deaf as a doorpost!" He rolled his grey, stone eyes.

"Mumble, mumble, mumble. You're a wonderful conversational companion." Portia rolled her eyes back at him.

"All you do is moan!" He complained loudly.

"No good." Portia sniffed and lifted her nose up, looking away. "Can't hear you."

Their argument could have gone on forever, the bickering pair wouldn't stop and I wondered what had made them so uptight. I took a deep breath and interrupted their argument.

"Where do these doors lead?" Both knockers stopped mid-insult and turned their gaze toward me.

"What?"

Andy laughed what sounded like a deep belly-laugh, and I was sure if he had a body he would be a portly man. "Search me, we're just the knockers!"

"oh..." Quinn had long ago sat down, his eyes seeming constantly alert. He now stood up and stalked towards the door Andy was mounted on. "How do we get through?"

Andy cleared his non-existent throat and proudly said, "Knock and the door will open."

I held up the ring imploringly and Andy's face fell instantly.

"I don't want that ring back in my mouth." He was glaring at me once more with his mouth shut tightly.

"Doesn't want his ring back in his mouth, eh?" Portia piped up. "Can't say I blame him."

My hand had snapped out and grabbed his nose, pinching his airway shut. His breath hitched as his eyes widened. A moment later his mouth opened as he gulped in air, I pushed the ring in his mouth straight away. He gave a low dejected moan and I instantly felt bad as I pulled the knocker back.

As the door slowly opened I stepped through apologising to Andy. His mumbling muffled by the door that had closed behind Quinn leaving us in a dense, dark forest.

Eric stood staring into a crystal, watching Sookie as she stepped in to the Red forest. He frowned, disturbed by her progress and the help she had gained along the way. With a twist of the wrist the ball had changed into a delicious looking peach.

"Try all you like Sookie. One way or another, you will be mine."

A/N

Hey I got inspired so I thought I would finish this chapter in time for christmas! I've surprised myself. Thanks for all the lovely reviews! This wasn't beta'd remember and I wrote the first half about 2-3 months ago and the second half tonight so let me know if there are any mistakes!

Rin is the grudge lady – Oh I was so tempted to replace Quinn with Bubba but then I realised it wouldn't work out and that could add him somewhere else with a little tweaking. Hopefully I can fit him in.

Also I know Lafayette isn't in the books much but I just love Lafayette so I had to include him :D

Merry Christmas and Happy New year!


	4. Bathed in Red and Glitter

This is where I start to deviate a just a little. Enjoy and happy new year.

As we walked the forest glittered under the light of the moon; every rock, tree and cobweb twinkled at me as I passed. A warm, sweet smell lingered in the air; it reminded me of how the house smelled when grandma made cherry pie. The warmth game me goose bumps; the humid air was a welcome change from the cool night air outside.

A low rumbling growl brought thoughts of werewolves to my mind, pushing away thoughts of home and curling up on the settee with a slice of cherry pie.

Quinn was walking slowly, with tension in his body like he was coiled and ready to pounce; the cutest thing was that his ears were down. I placed a hand on his head and ruffled the fur.

"Imagine a big thing like you being scared."

The smile was wiped from my face as Quinn fell through a trap door set into the floor of the forest.

A voice, like a human purring, called out from the darkness of the trees.

"Imagine that indeed."

…..

Bill walked without haste along the outside of the Red Forest. Erik was nowhere in sight, King Northman was purposely taking his time.

A scream in the distance caught his attention, it came from somewhere deep within the forest. Bill pitied the poor soul that had wandered in unaware of what lived inside. More screams, pleading for help and then a name, his own, was called in a hoarse voice. Fear crept through him as he recognised the voice.

"I'm coming Sookie," Bill turned to run into the woods when he suddenly realised he wasn't alone.

"And where do you think you're going Bill?" Erik stood regarding him with cool eyes.

"Sookie is in the Red Forest." Bill thought this would be enough to move the King from his path but he stood stock still. "If she is caught she will die."

"That should not concern you Bill, or are you beginning to feel attached to this human?"

Sookies screams stopped abruptly, the feeling of desperation nearly overwhelmed Bill.

"I am just concerned that she'll die and you wont get the telepathic pet you wanted, your Highness"

Erik raised an eyebrow, "I see... For one moment, I thought you cared for her. But no, not after my warnings, that would be stupid." Bill stood silently. "Give her this, when you see her again." A peach had appeared in his hand; he held it out to Bill who eyed it as though it were a wooden stake. "It's a present."

"Will it hurt her?"

"Now, why the concern?" Erik grinned, his teeth looked menacing.

"I won't harm her."

"I'm surprised at you Bill, losing your head over a human."

"I have not lost my head."

"You don't think Sookie could like a repulsive scab like you, do you?" Erik was suddenly in front of Bill, towering over him once more. "Remember why you are in my service Bill, the repercussions you could have suffered would have been immense had I not stepped in."

Bill did remember the repercussions; a hundred years in a coffin buried deep under ground. The things he had done as Erik's 'errand boy' were almost enough to make him consider the coffin, at least then he would get some peace.

"You'll give her that, Bill. Or I'll tip you into the lake of Silver." Bill nodded, taking the fruit and placing it in his pocket. He bowed and walked into the forest, Erik's voice followed him into the glittering hell.

"And, Bill? If you ever kiss her, I will kill you."

…....

The branches of the glittering trees scratched my face as I ran as fast as I could. My pursuers moved swiftly, I knew they could have caught me already and were only doing this for sport; their laughter said as much.

Back where Quinn had disappeared they had stepped out of the trees; two beautiful creatures that looked as wild as the forest around me, both covered in blood. They had smiled at my horror, insane looks in their eyes and had simply said "Run, human."

I'm glad to say I was smart enough to take their advice. They called to each other from opposite sides of me.

"Shall we see how long she can live if we take her apart Lochlan?"

My breath hitched, and it took a lot of effort to keep running, I shouted out for help again.

"I don't think she likes the sound of that Neave" Laughter rang out in the forest, it would have sounded like bells if it weren't for the fact it was borderline manic.

All at once there was an almighty crunch, like the impact of a body hitting the ground after jumping from a high building. Neave started screaming, through pain and anger as Lochlan ran to her aid. I didn't dare stop, as the sounds of fighting intensified.

After some time I could run no further, a tall ruined wall blocked my path and it spanned as far as the eye could see. I stood panting heavily, contemplating my next move. when a line of rope was lowered down from the top of the wall.

"Bill!" He looked down at me with his serious gaze.

"Hold onto the rope, I'll pull you up." I did as he asked, glad I wouldn't have to climb the thing since I was never any good at rope climbing in school. Looking up at his face he showed no strain as he hoisted me to his level.

Throwing my arms around his neck I nearly missed the surprised look on his face as I hugged him tightly. Any thoughts of him betraying me disappeared, I was just glad to be out of that sparkling hell hole. "Thank you." I smiled up at him missing the look of horror that crossed his face as I leaned in and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

And that's when the floor below us disappeared


End file.
